The Birds of America

A complete edition of John James Audubon's world famous The Birds of America, bound in linen and beautifully presented in a special slipcase. To create this edition of Audubon's masterpiece, the Natural History Museum's own original double elephant size folio was disbound and each of the 435 beautiful hand-coloured prints was specially photographed

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The Birds of America is one of the best known natural history books ever produced and also the most valuable - a complete set sold at auction in December 2010 for GBP7.3 million, which is a world record for a book. First published in double elephant size (approximately a metre tall) in the first half of the nineteenth century, it is famous for its stunning life-size illustrations of birds set within landscaped backgrounds. The book was issued in parts over 11 years and only around 200 completed sets were ever produced. Less than 120 of these survive today, locked away in museums, galleries and private collections around the world. To create this edition of Audubon's masterpiece, the Natural History Museum's own original edition was disbound and each of the 435 beautiful hand-coloured prints was specially photographed. The artworks are accompanied by the scientific descriptions that were used in the original The Birds of America.